Christopher Pike
Christopher Pike was a 23rd century Starfleet officer. He was captain of the starship from 2251 to 2264, as the successor of Robert April and immediate predecessor to James T. Kirk. Pike was a native of Mojave on Earth. Biography Career Encounter at Rigel fortress on Rigel VII]] In 2254, Pike led a landing party to Rigel VII, in which they were attacked by Kaylar warriors in what seemed to be an abandoned fortress. Three crewmen, including Pike's own yeoman, were killed, while an additional seven, including Spock, were injured, some severely. The loss weighed heavily on Pike; with all the strain and overwork that followed, he began to question his own continuance as starship commander. The Enterprise then set out for the Vega colony to hospitalize the sick and injured, but intercepted an old-style radio-interference distress call carrying the call letters of the , a survey expedition from the American Continent Institute which was lost in the Talos star group in 2236. The Talosian Incident near Mojave]] At Pike's reluctant command, the Enterprise diverted and traced the signal to the crash site on Talos IV. After an initial encounter with supposed survivors, including an out-of-place young beauty named Vina, it was revealed that the native Talosians had used telepathy to create the illusion of an encampment; all the survivors except Vina were dead. kidnapped, and placed in a Talosian zoo where they attempted to get him to mate with Vina to create a population of illusion-controlled Human servants. They forced Pike to relive old memories and placed him in illusionary scenarios of lives he could have if he abandoned his career as a starship captain. The scenarios including reliving the fight on Rigel VII, a picnic on Earth with his favorite horse Tango, and an illusory day in the life of an Orion slave-trader dealing in green animal women. When Pike refused to mate with Vina, the Talosians began to take steps to convince Pike to breed with other females of his crew; to this end, Yeoman J.M. Colt and Pike's first officer, Number One, were captured. Pike managed to escape; after a standoff, he convinced the Talosians to restore the disfigured Vina's illusion of health and beauty while letting the Humans of Pike's crew free. The Talosians believed this violent reaction made Humans unsuitable for breeding and agreed. Although the experience with the illusory worlds restored Pike's confidence in his command, it was recommended that all contact with the Talosians' powers be restricted. General Order 7 was enacted, threatening the death penalty should any travel there, for fear of the Federation falling to illusory indulgence. ( ) Tragic fate After a long tour as captain of the Enterprise (11 years, four months and five days of which were spent with junior science officer Spock as a loyal member of his crew), Pike was promoted to fleet captain in the mid-2260s at which point James T. Kirk took command. Only a few years thereafter, he was aboard a training vessel, an old Class J starship, when a baffle plate ruptured and exposed many helpless trainees and cadets to delta-particle radiation. Pike dragged many cadets from the danger, but in the process was hopelessly crippled by the rays. The disfigured Pike was put on a form of advanced life support which sustained his withered body and life functions, but he was too weak and incapacitated to ever move or respond to physical stimuli again. A wheelchair that was tuned to his brain could use blinking light signals to respond to simple queries in the affirmative (one flash) or negative (two flashes), but that was the extent to which he could communicate. Return to Talos s]] In 2267, after being contacted by the Talosians, Lieutenant Commander Spock devised a plan to divert the Enterprise (of which he was now first officer under Captain James T. Kirk) to Starbase 11, where Pike was hospitalized, with a fake message. Spock's intention was, risking execution if caught, to deliver Pike to Talos IV, where the Talosians could tap Pike's mind with telepathy and illusions so he would be spared dying helpless in his lifeless body. Pike, also contacted beforehand by the Talosians, at first refused Spock's plot to spirit him away to Talos IV. However, on the journey to the forbidden planet, images of Pike's earlier experience on Talos IV -- presented during Spock's on-board court-martial (a court-martial later revealed to have been concocted by the Talosians) -- convinced Pike to accept the Talosian's offer. On Talos IV, with the help of the Talosians, Pike lived out a life of illusion in which his devastating handicap no longer existed. Pike went into retirement from Starfleet active duty and lived on Talos IV permanently, with no further outside contact, since the secrecy of the Talosian power made his fate largely unknown. ( ) In memoriam The Christopher Pike Medal of Valor was named in Pike's honor. Benjamin Sisko and Solok received the award in the 24th century. ( ) On the planet Cestus III, Pike City was named after him. ( ) There was also a shuttlecraft Pike carried on board the . ( ) 'christopher pike.' Appendices Appearances * ** ** ** Background Captain Pike was played by Jeffrey Hunter in the original unaired pilot, . Actor Sean Kenney portrayed a disfigured Pike in the later scenes of the adaptation of that episode, , because the part of a wheelchair-bound Captain Pike was a bit role in the context of the script and would not justify the expense of hiring back the more popular Jeffrey Hunter for such a short part, especially since he had moved on to other projects. The American author (b. 1954) took Christopher Pike as his pen name. James Blish noted that the scripts were "heavily revised in various handwritings and Pike confusingly appears from time to time as 'Captain Spring' and 'Captain Winter.'" The revised draft of "The Cage" from November 20, 1964 lists him as Captain James Winter. http://www.fastcopyinc.com/orionpress/articles/thecage.htm Apocrypha Outside of the canon information derived from his one filmed appearance, Diane Carey's Final Frontier novel lists his full name as "Christopher Richard Pike." His adventures as captain of the Enterprise were the center of Marvel's Star Trek: Early Voyages comic book series, establishing his father as retired Admiral Josh Pike. Pike was also featured in a handful of novels and comics, some of them depicting his life after being crippled and left on Talos IV, some of them depicting his earlier adventures. The Pocket novel Vulcan's Glory by TOS script writer D.C. Fontana states that Pike previously commanded the starship , a reference to the original name intended to be given the Enterprise. Some stories have also said that Pike served as the executive officer onboard the Enterprise under Captain Robert T. April. Pike wearing one rank stripe as captain, while James T. Kirk wore two on the same style of uniform, gives rise to the theory that during "The Cage" Pike was actually a commander (or even a lieutenant) in rank, and was addressed as captain by way of his position on the ship rather than his actual rank. However, most texts and background information simply refer to Pike as a Starfleet captain with this also assumed as his actual rank. In the Star Trek novel Enterprise: The First Adventure, Pike is promoted to commodore upon relinquishing command of the Enterprise. This could indicate that "fleet captain" was considered a position and not a rank. Pike is also the main focus of the non-canon novel Burning Dreams, which gives a detailed account of his life and career, as well as The Captain's Table #6: Where Sea Meets Sky. Burning Dreams establishes that after the incident on Talos IV, Pike spent much of the rest of his career wondering if his life and everything that he was experiencing in life was an illusion and if he was still in the cell on Talos. In the Deep Space Nine novel Unity, Ezri Dax said that Pike was part of the joint Starfleet-Trill mission where the Neural parasite was first discovered. At that time, Pike was a Fleet Captain. External links * * * de:Christopher Pike es:Christopher Pike fr:Christopher Pike it:Christopher Pike ja:クリストファー・パイク ru:Кристофер Пайк sv:Christopher Pike Pike, Christopher Pike, Christopher Pike, Christopher Pike, Christopher